Britain seeks greater role in Asia

British Foreign Secretary William Hague has called for Commonwealth nations to take
a stronger role in world affairs, as the UK seeks to boost its presence in
Australia's backyard.
Mr Hague has been in Sydney for the AUKMIN bilateral strategic talks with British
Defence Secretary Liam Fox, Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd and Defence Minister Stephen
Smith.
On Wednesday morning he visited Brisbane with Mr Rudd, talking with flood victims
and expressing his admiration for the "courage, tenacity and sheer resilience of the
people" he met.
His encouragement for Queensland's rebuilding effort chimed with the broader theme
of his visit - a strengthening of the 54-member Commonwealth of Nations, whose
leaders meet annually at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).
Mr Hague said he hoped the Commonwealth would become a leading voice in free trade
and play a greater role in "development, conflict prevention and building democratic
institutions".
That would include boosting its involvement in assisting Zimbabwe - which has been
sidelined from the Commonwealth for human rights abuses.
"Will (CHOGM) make the leap necessary to live up to its ideals fully, make a greater
contribution to its citizens and have a bigger impact on world affairs, or will it
continue to tread softly?" Mr Hague told the Lowy Institute in Sydney.
An eminent persons group, including Australia's Justice Michael Kirby, is set to
present a report on reform of the Commonwealth to CHOGM in Perth in October.
Mr Hague earlier told an Australian British Chamber of Commerce lunch a bigger role
for the Commonwealth should not be seen as turning it into "a military or aggressive
organisation".
Mr Hague, the first British foreign secretary to visit Australia in 17 years, said
his government had made a "decisive change" in foreign policy, which had the two
aims of "security and prosperity".
"We are consciously shifting Britain's diplomatic weight to the east and to the
south - to the economic titans and emerging economies of Latin America, the Gulf and
of Asia, where we have not been as active in recent years as circumstances
warranted," he said.
He said global relations were more like the social networking site Facebook rather
than "the rigid relationships of the past", and labelled Australia "a major player
in a region of great importance to our collective security, with powerful links with
China and the economies".
British foreign policy would be more "expeditionary and agile" in the modern
networked world and work not only to build bilateral ties but make the most of
existing bodies such as CHOGM.
Mr Hague said the meeting would be an opportunity for the Commonwealth to "assert
and renew itself as a force for democracy and prosperity, and to speak out clearly
on the issues of our time".
At a dinner with Prime Minister Julia Gillard at Kirribilli, the British and
Australian ministers shared thoughts on minority government and fixed terms of
government.
Mr Smith and Dr Fox visited Adelaide on Wednesday to discuss sharing defence science
and technology, and a possible purchase of recently decommissioned British naval
vessels.
"There is a prospect that that (vessel purchase) may be of some interest to
Australia, but we'll take that step by step,' Mr Smith said.